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- Dietitian.Lauren Hmede
- Apr 23, 2019
- 2 min read
How to Lose Fat Without Losing Muscle:
There is a difference between weight loss and fat loss. Weight loss could be either muscle or fat loss. Sure what people want to lose is always fat not muscles. Muscles are mabolically active compounds tha burns calories, give your body a shape and boost metabolism.
In order to lose weight you need to burn more calories than you consume this is called calorie deficit which is the most important factor during wieght loss diet. Moreover, you need to know what really matters is the quality of food sometimes you may consume empty calories which result in cravings, weight gain and abdominal obesity. You also need to know that even healthy food may result in weight gain when consumed in excess.
According to a study published in 1999 in the Journal of the American College of Nutrition drives home the importance of strength training over cardio for fat loss without muscle loss while in a caloric deficit.
The study looked at two groups of obese subjects put on identical very low-calorie diets. One group was given an aerobic exercise only protocol (walking, biking, or jogging four times per week), and the other group was given resistance training only three times per week. After 12 weeks, both groups lost weight. The aerobic exercise group lost 37 pounds, 27 of which was fat and ten of which was muscle. However, the resistance-training group lost 32 pounds, and 32 pounds were fat; zero was muscle.
In other words, the resistance-training group lost significantly more fat and didn’t lose any muscle, even at only 800 calories per day, which is far lower than anyone would want to go, but was done in this study in order to take any dietary variables completely out of the equation and compare the effects of the exercise regime on muscle maintenance and metabolism.
Additionally, when resting metabolic rate was calculated after the study, it was found that the aerobic (cardio) group was burning 210 fewer calories daily. In contrast, the resistance-training group had increased their metabolism by 63 calories per day.
Finally, you dont need to starve your body in order to lose extra fat as this will result in muscle loss which you dont need it. If you are overweight and you need to lose those extra pounds of fat you just need to follow a well balanced diet along with appropriate exercise so you can adapt a healthy living simply by eating more vegetables and fruits, choose low fat dairies, lean protein sources and whole grains and drink plenty of water
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